If one’s looking for time consuming activities, making detours on a bicycle is a great idea. Making detours on a bicycle in Australia, is a genius one. After reaching Alice Springs and the halfway point of my quest to cross the country north to south I had taken a right, headed straight west. Making the so called Meerine Loop, taking me past Uluru (Ayers Rock), along with a few more of the continent’s most important landmarks.
In the end this side trip added up to 800 extra kilometers. 800 great ones. Anyone who’s read the previous couple of posts of this blog know that. As we just settled though, making detours on a bicycle takes time. And this particular one had surely put a strain on the remaining time on my visa. Though things still were totally alright, the margin of error I’d found comfort in up until then was now long gone.
I still had time enough to complete the route I’d set out to do, but not much more than that. Tasmania got scratched off the map. So did plans for proper breaks. Along with any single days of rest to speak of. And getting sick? Don’t be silly.
Time was border lining between being just, and not enough.
Then came the rain.
Let’s make a long story short with this one.
I’d just made it back onto my actual route and was back on yet another outback dirt trail, winding it’s way south. From the tiny aboriginal community Finke, I was about to ride south along the outskirts of the equally big and dry Simpson Desert. We’re talking very dry. Dry as in that the region has an average annual rainfall just above 100 mm.
…which this particular weekend fell during a period of 48 hours.
QUÈ?!?
Rain in itself doesn’t bother me much. On mud roads however, it rules your life.
Considering alternative outcomes, I was in great luck. Thanks to a perfectly timed snap of a cable – I happened to be held up in Finke just as the rain rolled in. And instead of being flooded in my tent somewhere along the road, I got to spend those couple of days with a roof over my head (thanks again, guys!), making friends with the always so hilarious village kids and their ‘pet’ pigs.
Great times, but fact remained – I was in a total rush. Time kept moving forward without mercy while and I was dead still. Until that morning when the local police finally decided to let me hit their closed road, a couple of days before any other traffic.
‘Alright then. Give it a go, we won’t stop you. Get ready though – ’cause the road probably will.’
One deep breath and an awkward smile later, I tied my shoes and swung one leg over the frame. Doubting, but definitely hoping that the 400 km between me and the next settlement somehow would turn out do be doable.
First impression: a little rough.
Second impression: a lot of rough.
Third impression: …
So, what happened? Instead of going on too much about it, I figured I’ll just show you some of what the muddiest week of my life looked like. Putting every hour of daylight into moving forward, I was still struggling to log more than 50-60 km a day. Trying to stay on track for my visa quickly lost priority though, and once again food and water set my time limit.
I don’t have that many photos from it, and the ones I do have are taken whenever my hands were clean and dry enough to want to touch my barbag. Anyways, I think you’ll get the gist of it.
Here we go.
Keywords: Mud. Flooded creeks. More mud. The odd combination of lactic acid and patience. Mud again. And above all else – beauty.
There was quite a price to pay for it, but fact is that rain equals life. And I was lucky enough to see this normally arid, dead landscape greener than it’d allegedly been in 30 years. 30 years! Ankle deep in mud, sure. But desert flowers springing straight out of the road?
Always, always worth it.
When life gives you lemons… :)
Fredrika